School Funding Lawsuit Goes to Texas Supreme Court

2015-09-01T23:20:05Z2015-09-02T01:07:09Z

Tuesday morning lawyers for the state of Texas and the school districts made their oral arguments. Of the 600 schools suing the state government, the Midland Independent School District is one of them.

David Garcia, Chief Financial Officer for the Midland I.S.D says the district will be shelling out more than 50 million dollars this year, in funding, so that the state can re-distribute funds to property poor districts in Texas.

"It is a real challenge for us, having to send the amount of money that we are having to send the state on trying to balance property poor versus property rich. All the while we're only going to be receiving about 4 million dollars in state funding to educate our kids so the bulk of it, 236 million dollars of out budget that was just approved last week, is being funded by our local tax payers," said Garcia.

More than 600 other school districts in Texas are facing the same issue, that's why a lawsuit has been filed against the state government in hopes that all school districts in Texas get their fair share in funding.

"We need something structurally changed in school finance that is more palatable to tax payers, to school districts, and is more equitable, more efficient, and more adequate to educating kids all across Texas," said Garcia.

NewsWest 9 received a statement from the Executive Director for the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) stating, "The Texas Supreme Court has the opportunity to make a decision that will matter in the lives of every child in Texas. Unfortunately, for far too long, many students and teachers have had to struggle to do their best in severely under-resourced settings. ATPE implores the court to compel the state to finally provide educators with adequate resources to give Texas children the opportunity to excel."

"Our hope and anticipation is that we will find a different way to fund education, something that is not so detrimental to local taxpayers losing resources going to other parts of the state that they're having to fund," said Garcia

There is no set time line for the Texas Supreme Court to make a decision. Meanwhile, school districts across the state are waiting to hear if changes will be coming.